A Visionary’s Legacy: How Mustak Hossain Reshaped Contemporary Bengali Education
By Faruque Ahamed
Introduction
After the Partition of the country in 1947, the educated and well-off section of the Muslims in the western part of Bengal migrated to what is now Bangladesh. Those who remained in West Bengal were in a terribly dire situation, being financially, educationally and culturally quite weak. During the two decades after Partition, a small section could somewhat improve their financial condition through small-scale business and various types of manual jobs; however, like the rest of the Muslim population, even their educational status remained at the very bottom.
The transition from that situation began in the nineteen-eighties. And for this change to happen, prominent social worker and industrialist Mustak Hossain has played a key role. This noble man came forward as an ambassador of humanity for the spread of modern education by generously giving money from his own funds. It must be emphatically said that the mission schools were established with the financial support of Mustak Hossain in various parts of West Bengal. Due to his generous patronage, the Bengali Muslim society has entered the path of light from the dark world. However, it must also be mentioned that not only the Muslims, but people of all classes, irrespective of caste, creed and religion, are constantly benefiting from his direct patronage. Following the philanthropic measures of Mustak Hossain, the new generation among the marginalised sections will surely march forward on the path of education and development. Moreover, the initiative of the GD Study Circle, started under his inspiration and support, has achieved great success in training young meritorious candidates in securing government jobs. For all these reasons, Mustak Hossain deserves our gratitude. As a mark of our tribute to him, Mustak Hossain was presented with the “Danvir Award” by Udar Aakash Patrika and Publications in recognition of his pioneering work for the welfare of the wider society.
Mustak Hossain: Life and Work Prelude
The trail started in the 1940s. The family was wealthy and owned vast landed property. But it was Ghiyasuddin Biswas who broke the family tradition of following agriculture as a vocation and entered into the world of trade and commerce for the first time. Initially, the common people of Mushidabad – although they were plagued by the erosion of the Ganga-Padma and agriculture as a source of livelihood was under threat – were in great doubt about the success of any new venture. At that time, indigo cultivation centred in Jangipur was also discontinued. Giyasuddin Biswas started his small company named Pataka (which means Flag) in a modest way. Soon, he proved to be a saviour of the poorer people in this precarious time. Under the shadow of Pataka, people came forward to work for his company to support their families on daily wages. The factory was built around Dhulian, Aurangabad. Giyasuddin Biswas was self-confident, daring and highly sensitive despite many hurdles. He started the business with a meagre capital. His honesty, trust and kindness towards his employees led him on the path of success. Subsequently, the number of his workers was 60 to 65 thousand. After that, the Pataka never looked back and made history.
Birth and Genealogy
Mustak Hossain was born in Chandra village of Aurangabad, Murshidabad, 10 January, in 1958 to Giyasuddin Biswas and Delkhosh Begum. Giyasuddin had five sons and four daughters. The names of Mustak Hossain’s four brothers are Daud Hossain, Mohammad Kalimuddin, Abul Kalam and Enamul Haque, respectively. The four sisters are Amina Begum, Sabeda Begum, Rabia Begum and Marina Begum. Mustak Hossain was married to Sanwara Hossain, who was from a village in Magrahat, South 24 Parganas. The marriage took place in May 1984. They have three children, Sarif Hossain and Sahil Hossain and one daughter, Musrefa Hossain. Even though the idea of a joint family has disappeared from Bengali society, Mustak Hossain’s brothers, sisters and their children grew up in the joint family, which is a unique example in the face of the current family crisis in Bengal.
Education
Mustak Hossain’s first lessons began at Pradip Pathshala in his village, Chandra. Then he got admission in Nimtita Gaursundar Dwarkanath Institution. He was admitted to Krishnanath College in Baharampur for his undergraduate studies. From there, he passed B.Com. in Accountancy, and then started his studies in M.Com. at Calcutta University. While studying to become a Chartered Accountant, his studies were interrupted due to his father’s illness. He frankly admitted in 1978 that he was the first graduate of his family.
Achievements
In 1980, when his father became ill, he temporarily quit his studies and started looking after the business. Entering into business, he could not go back to study. Following his father’s footsteps, he crossed an unknown path. Within a short time, he understood the details of the situation of the Company. At that time, their business market was limited to a few districts of the states of West Bengal and Assam. Thinking that the Assam market might become uncertain due to Assam agitation led by AASU, Mustak Hossain started to expand business elsewhere.
He first set foot in Delhi with the aim of spreading the Pataka. Delhi did not disappoint him. Pataka Industry flew high there. After that, he set foot in Haryana. Haryana got this Pataka with the support and patronage of Lala Sushil Seth. After Delhi and Haryana, he successfully flew to Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and South India one after the other. He brought the industry to the top. He has reached the top of this business with his business acumen and devotion. There are several reasons behind his success. He is a risk taker, and never hesitated taking risks to expand the business in different areas. He established mass communication with great devotion, honesty and sensitivity. He devoted himself to the cultivation and production of leaves for his industry. And above all, he arranges the training of workers, so that high-quality industrial production is possible. Anyone can fit the job without much training but he built a team of 25 trainers to teach the job properly. They were used to improve labour efficiency. For this reason, the number of workers in his business in the 1980s was 60 to 65 thousand, but within a decade it increased to 2 lakh. That’s how he brought the Pataka industry to rank 10th in the 1990s, 3rd in 94 and 1st in the next three years. Now, more than one lakh sixty thousand workers in the Pataka industry are covered under the PF scheme. About 10 crore industrial products are produced every day. More than two lakh people are involved in this business.
But he is not tired of taking the 502-Pataka industry to the top. He expanded the business to other ventures, from the silk industry to a food park, one by one. His firm belief is that Pataka Group’s food processing will also play a special role in the world’s industrial market. From the tea industry, food processing, sericulture, to food parks—they too will capture the market later. He has already established a reputation in the healthcare and biscuit industry. Ten garden silk thread manufacturing factories have been built in Malda on a 42-bigha land. During the rule of the Bengal Nawabs, the silk industry of Murshidabad and Malda flourished all over the world. Keeping this thought in mind, he entered the silk business in 1994. He knew that Rajshahi of Bangladesh has a world market in the silk industry today. It could happen in Murshidabad-Malda, too. He knew that even though there was considerable silk cultivation in Bengal, the cultivators did not get their profits. Brokers appropriated the profits. So he started this business keeping in mind the farmers of the silk industry. After the success of his silk industry with foreign machinery and local people as workers trained in the latest technology, Mustak Hossain entered the tea industry business with special risks. He took this risk even after he was informed of the crisis in the tea industry and despite the presence of multinational competitors like Tata, Birla and Hindustan Lever. But even there, he achieved considerable success. Today Pataka Tea has spread beyond West Bengal into Bihar, Jharkhand and other states. Pataka is a popular brand in the tea industry today.
Mustak Hossain in social welfare
He is an industrialist. But today, everybody knows that he is a philanthropist. No industrialist was seen coming forward for social welfare work as he has done. No matter how wealthy he is, he never lives a luxurious life. Pride could never consume him. A compassionate person like him has not been seen lately. He provided GD scholarships to poor meritorious students all over Bengal regardless of caste and religion. The amount of this scholarship is several crores per year. At GD Charitable Society, Aurangabad, many needy patients are treated and given medicines free of charge. He spends crores of rupees every year on the treatment of rural poor people in the health care sector. Every year, he freely donates money for the rehabilitation of poor displaced people in Murshidabad and Malda.
Mustak Hossain and the Pataka Group belong to the poor people of West Bengal. He has proved this many times. In 1993, Gokarna, Chatra, and Khoshbaspur village (Murshidabad) were destroyed by a tornado. At that time, he stood by the distressed people. In these villages, he single-handedly arranged for the resettlement of hundreds of families. Acknowledging his contribution, the Anandabazar Patrika reported on 3 February 1994: ‘The common people of the district and the people of other districts have done much more than the government, the political parties. Voluntary organisations also provided support in rural areas that were completely devastated after the tornado. These are the words of different people of the village. They are full of praise for a businessman named Giyasuddin (father of Mustak Hossain). This person from Aurangabad has built 100 houses in Gokarna, Chatra, Khoshbaspur at his own expense. Houses with brick walls, tin canopies. The women of the village got a shelter there.’ In 1998 and 2001, the helpless flood-hit people of Murshidabad and Malda faced extreme hardship. Mustak Hossain stood beside the flood-hit people of these two districts. He spent two crores in 1998 and one crore 27 lakhs in 2001. Nearly two lakh received food, clothes, medicines and relief items. On July 11, 1999, he handed over a cheque of Rs 11 lakh to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to help the families of Kargil war victims. Mustak Hossain has stood by the people of the Sundarbans area affected by Ayala in 2009. He gave relief of more than two crores in that area. He undertakes these kinds of works as he is not merely an industrialist, he is a philanthropist who could not ignore his helpless fellow human beings. Today it is undeniable that he is not only a friend of the poor people but also a friend of the government, as in various situations, he has stood by the government in social welfare works as well as his Pataka Group of companies pay crores of rupees to the government as sales tax every year.
Mustak Hossain and the expansion of education
Mustak Hossain’s contribution to the spread of education is immense. It is known today that many missions under his patronage have been able to bring the light of education to the remote and backward corners of rural West Bengal. It is well-known that Mustak Hossain took the initiative of mission-centered education. Today, more than 60 mission schools are engaged in spreading education in different parts of West Bengal under the supervision of GD Charitable Society under the aegis of Pataka Group of Industries. He spends crores of rupees annually on these educational institutions in infrastructure development and student scholarship schemes. Apart from these mission schools, he also donates money for the construction of many other private schools and madrasas. His contribution to madrassas and maktabs is also undeniable. Due to the expansion of education, today, many Muslim students are getting the opportunity to study medicine and engineering through joint entrance examinations. He also bears the cost of education for poor and needy children. He gave stipends to meritorious poor students. His multi-pronged movement in the world of education, including generous financial support, has set the tide through which the children of poor families in underdeveloped rural Bengal are moving fast towards self-reliance. It should also be noted that he consistently supported many small newspapers and magazines in the districts and the state.
Mustak Hossain’s Writings
Apart from being the leader of the 502 Pataka Group, one of India’s leading industrialists, he is also known as a thoughtful writer. Despite his busy career as an industrialist, he has penned three books: 1. Nishan and Nishana, 2. Guhar bhitore Alo (Light within the Cave), 3. Alor niche Andhar (Darkness under the Lamp). His thoughts on society, his own responsibility, his limitations and regrets towards his fellow human beings, particularly his immediate neighbours, have all been revealed in these books. Out of humility, he frankly admits that what he has done for society is not enough, particularly his responsibilities to his immediate neighbours have been rather inadequate:
Those who are my neighbours, who are the residents of my village, who are my distant brothers or nephews, who are an integral part of my community, society and nation, without whose help and support the flag of the Pataka Group of Industries would have paled into insignificance, are becoming more and more unfamiliar and distant people to me and to our close circles. We reside so close to them, their blood and sweat augment our wealth, but we are unaware of their scarred existence. We do not share the sorrowful world of the hardworking workers, of my brothers, both elder and younger. They go on from one arena of darkness to another. Their hunger creates new hunger. Their sleeplessness and agony increase and turn into a permanent sickness. We stood by indifferently, our eyes closed and our faces turned away. We never understand their miserable existence, their ignorance, their superstitions and their melancholy, gloomy or dull hearts. I have also lost this sensitivity. If there is any failure of the Pataka Group for this condition, then it is my own failure as I am its Chief Executive. If there is any social disability behind this failure, it is Mustak Hossain who is alone responsible for this. (Alor niche Andhar (Darkness under the Lamp, 63-64)
This sincere confession makes him a more humane figure. It only demonstrates that in spite of his dazzling worldly success, he has not forgotten his roots. It shows that he is not oblivious of his innate sense of responsibility towards his fellow human beings, particularly the poor and the needy.
Award
Mustak Hossain Family Honoured at the 2025 Barclays Private Clients Hurun India Awards.
The Barclays Private Clients Hurun Excellence in Family Business Awards 2025, jointly hosted by Barclays Private Clients India, Sotheby’s International Realty, Qatar Executive, Mercedes-Benz India, and Fanatic Sports, was held on 11 December 2025 at The Oberoi Hotel, New Delhi. The event celebrated excellence among India’s family-owned businesses. Representatives from 50 of India’s most influential enterprises—including JK Cement, Kajaria Ceramics, Dalmia Group, Mankind Pharma, and others—were in attendance.
Among India’s leading industrial enterprises, the Pataka Group stands out as a distinguished name. In recognition of its success as a heritage-driven and visionary business institution dedicated to shaping industry and society in rural India, the Mustak Hossain family was honoured with this prestigious award. Congratulations were extended to the awardees whose leadership and long-term vision are redefining business excellence in India.
At the Barclays Private Clients Hurun Excellence in Family Business Awards 2025, held on 11 December 2025, the country’s most respected legacy families, next-generation leaders, and “iconic” wealth creators came together to honour the enduring spirit of Indian family businesses. The award, conferred on behalf of Mustak Hossain, Chairman of the Pataka Group, was received by his son Sarif Hossain, Director of the Pataka Group and the first Indian industrialist lecturer at the University of Oxford.
Building a legacy was only the beginning—preserving it across generations marked the true beginning of stewardship.
The panel brought together visionary family business leaders who went beyond wealth creation to engage in meaningful discussions on governance, continuity, and long-term institution building. Among the distinguished panelists was Sarif Hossain, Director of the Pataka Group. The discussions highlighted how India’s legacy entrepreneurs are building resilient institutions capable of withstanding the test of time.
Sarif Hossain stated, “Accepting this award on behalf of my father is a great honour and privilege, representing a leader who measures success by the impact created across the organisation’s ecosystem—comprising 200,000 employees, 10 million customers, and 20 million families benefiting through social welfare initiatives. Nation-building through public welfare is the core philosophy of Pataka, and it is our responsibility as successors to always keep the Pataka flag flying high.”
Conclusion
As an educated person, he realizes that education is the backbone of the nation. So he says in this book: ‘For spiritual peace and welfare, priority should be given to learning. It must be that learning and knowledge that brings profit not only for the individual, but benefits his clan, his neighbours, his locality, his community, the nation, and the entire human society.’ (Alor niche Andhar (Darkness under the Lamp, 75-76). Such a statement by an industrialist regarding education is unprecedented.
